FIFTY YEARS
OF THE HOUSTON FIELD HOUSE

Robert R. Fluck
Jr. ’72 Syracuse, N.Y.

You asked for remembrances
of the Houston Field House. This is significant to me because I will celebrate
my 50th birthday this year as well.

I have three events
at Houston Field House that stick out in my mind from my undergraduate
years at the ’Tute. First was a concert by Iron Butterfly (the first real
heavy metal band!). They played “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” for over 45 minutes.
It was good that they had the roof fastened on securely—that was one wild
concert!

The other memorable
concert was the Fifth Dimension. During the course of their concerts,
the group would go into the audience to bring a member of the opposite
sex on stage to dance with them for one song. Marilyn McCoo (about 6 feet
tall and quite beautiful) walked right up to me—and chose the guy NEXT
to me! I had to conceal my disappointment from my pinmate, of course.

Event number three
was not so joyous. In a hockey game (the opponent for which escapes me
at this time) one of our players was knocked unconscious by a relatively
vicious check. He lay on the ice for nearly one half-hour before being
moved. I’m sure that the sweat from his hockey uniform conducted the heat
out of his body quite rapidly during that whole time, adding hypothermia
to whatever other injuries he had. I remember writing an editorial to
the Poly at the time decrying the inadequacy of the care the injured athlete
received.

Last, I was privileged
(although I didn’t know it at the time) to attend the last Commencement
festivities conducted at the Field House when my son graduated in 1998
. . . I had been visiting Troy during my son’s undergraduate years, mainly
as transportation until he received his own car. It was a sad moment when
I realized that there was no reason any more to come to campus.

I’m happy that the
Houston Field House is still a vital part of the campus life at RPI. Happy
Birthday!